It's A Wonderful Hunter's Life: The Answer - Killua's World
by Jay Navi
Summary: "The Answer" is going to be a series of stories focusing on Gon's friends in his dream AU from my story, "It's A Wonderful Hunter's Life". In order to understand "The Answer", you must first read that one. I have no idea how long each story will be so, they will be their own separate stories. This one will focus on Killua. Rated T for language and mild disturbing scenes, maybe?
1. Prologue: Friendship is Wonderful

It's A Wonderful Hunter's Life: The Answer

Killua's World

Prologue: Friendship is Wonderful

Within the past hour or so, he had seriously considered giving up his life as a professional assassin. Though, he wasn't sure why he had these thoughts all of a sudden, or even what caused him to have the thoughts. All he knew was that he felt a great desire to protect the person who had just saved his life. The boy, around his age, laying, bleeding out in the middle of the road.

"Gon," He said, "Gon!"

He rushed over to the boy and put his hands on where the bullet had entered the boy's body. He tried to stop the bleeding, which was an unusual feeling for him as he was normally the cause of people bleeding. He never tried to stop any bleeding before, except his own, but that was really easy. This, however, felt like the hardest thing in the universe to do. He looked around at the gathering crowd.

"Call an ambulance," he said loud enough for the crowd to hear him. Nobody moved. He got angry at the crowd and shouted, "Didn't you hear me!? Call a FUCKING AMBULANCE!"

A man in the crowd startled and hurriedly took out his cell phone. The man dialled for an ambulance. It took the ambulance about three minutes to arrive. The paramedics looked towards the boy on the ground and the other boy trying to hold in his blood. One of the paramedics pulled him away from the other boy, much to his protesting and cussing.

"Gon!" He shouted again. Then he grabbed the sleeve of the paramedic that was holding him back. He looked up at the man with tears in his eyes and said, "Please, you've got to save him!"

"Don't worry, kid," the paramedic by the other boy said kindly, "Thanks to you, he'll make it to the hospital. However, we've got to get him there right away, if we want to save his life."

The man got up and went to the ambulance to get the stretcher. He could see what the man had done to save Gon's life for the precious minutes they had to get to the hospital. The paramedic had wrapped Gon's upper torso in gauze. Gon's body was lifted onto the stretcher and placed inside the ambulance. The paramedic holding him back led him to the ambulance and he sat in the back with Gon.

It had been his fault that Gon was like this. And yet, there was nothing that he could have done to prevent it. Thinking back on the situations leading up to the event that changed his life, he realized that never once had he told the other boy to leave him alone. However, when he saw the determination in Gon's eyes when the other boy had declared him his 'best friend', he doubted the boy would have listened to anything other than what he had wanted to hear.

When the ambulance arrived at the hospital, the doctors and nurses took the stretcher and pushed it through several doors. Most of the doors, he was not allowed to enter. So, one of the nurses took him to a waiting room. Thinking back to only ten minutes ago was just a series of blurs. He remembered hearing Gon call out his name, he remembered being pushed and landing on the sidewalk, he remembered a gunshot. He did not, however, remember the shooter's face. If he did remember the shooter's face, then he would find whoever did this to Gon, and he would kill them.

It was a few hours later when the doctor came into the waiting room. He stood up, wanting to hear good news. He was expecting to hear bad news, but bad news was not what he wanted to hear. The doctor stood there in silence for a few minutes, as if trying to find a way to break bad news to this boy around twelve or thirteen years of age. He braced himself for whatever news the doctor gave.

"The operation," the doctor began, "was a success."

It felt like a weight had been lifted from his heart when the doctor smiled. He slumped back down in his chair, trying to hold in tears of joy. However, he could not control his emotions any longer and the tears flowed freely. The doctor explained that removing the bullet was easy, however, the bullet had lodged itself inside of Gon's body, close to his heart. The doctors had to be really careful not to disturb anything else or Gon might have died.

"If you want to see him," the doctor said, "He is resting in room 110. I doubt he would hear anything, but in my experience, people who talk to their loved ones often comfort them and help them recover sooner."

He wouldn't know if he would go as far as to say Gon was his 'loved one', however, it was obvious that it was the way Gon felt about him. He considered calling Gon that, as well, since Gon was the only one to ever show an ounce of love towards him. If it was anybody else that was with him, he would have taken the bullet and he would have died. Even if his own older brother were with him, the result would be that there was no bullet for his brother. However, Gon had taken the bullet for him and he was still alive.

He entered the room where Gon was recovering from the surgery. Gon looked simply awful compared to just that afternoon. Gon was hooked up to all these machines, one for oxygen, one for fluids and one for his heartbeat. He didn't know Gon very well, but he knew that he didn't wasn't to see Gon like this ever again. It just wasn't Gon. He sat down on a chair beside the bed.

"Hey, Gon," he said, "It's me. Listen, I, uh, I wanted to thank you. F-for saving my life earlier. And, uh, I'm sorry that you had to do that. That bullet was meant for me, Gon, not you. I should have been the one to take the bullet. So why did you?"

He wasn't expecting an answer but he got one anyway, "Because," Gon said weakly, "you're my best friend, Killua. And," he coughed, "and that's what friends do."

Gon closed his eyes and went back to sleep. He was replaying the words 'you're my best friend' in his head and had wondered how many times Gon had said them. Twice. It was twice, now, that Gon had said those words. He thought of how many times he had heard somebody say those words to him. Twice. Twice, in his whole life, he had heard somebody call him in their best friend. He thought of how many times somebody had just called him their friend. Twice. Just twice. The only person to have ever considered him a friend was laying in a hospital bed, recovering from a bullet meant for him.

==-==-==-==-==-==-==-  
A/N: Just wanted to say that just about everytime the word "He" is in here, it is talking about Killua. And no, I will not be using "He" when reffering to Killua all the time. It's too hard for me to do and follow.  
==-==-==-==-==-==-==-


	2. The Joys of Chocolate

Chapter 1: The Joys of Chocolate

High in the sky, at the summit of Kukuru Mountain, there sits a mansion that nobody has ever seen. This mansion is home to the infamous killers. A family of professional assassins lives in this mansion. They are the most famous assassins in the world. The Zoldyck family.

Killua Zoldyck, the third child of Silva and Kikyo, was a prodigy. At the early age of 1, when most other children were just learning to stand on their feet, he was running at speeds that rivalled the fastest horses alive. When he was 2, he could lift a chair with one hand. When he was 3, he was able to speak five different languages. When he was only 4, he could survive the deadliest poison known to man. And, at the tender age of 5, he had murdered his first human.

Now, the boy was 6 years old and he was being trained and tortured. The very cruellest of tortures that would leave a grown man begging for his life the first second after it had started. Killua endured them all. He had to endure them all. If he didn't, he would be tossed aside and left to rot somewhere. That's what his older brother, Illumi, had always told him.

The six-year-old Killua was strapped to a machine that produced electricity. He wore no shirt and nodes were attached to his chest, directly on his nipples. It didn't help that they had made him run a marathon without stopping for a rest just before. The sweat rolling down his body made the electricity seem even worse. He lifted his head to look at the machine. It had just been turned on at 10 volts.

"Turn it up to 50 volts," Kikyo said.

"Yes, mother," said a boy around 13.

The boy, Killua's other older brother, Milluki, was short, round and had what Killua liked to call a 'bowl cut with a part'. He was the one that usually tortured Killua and the young boy had grown used to that fact. Milluki stood at the control panel for the machine. He typed in a couple numbers and immediately, the pain going through Killua's body became worse.

He let out a strained "Rrrrrr" as he lifted his head towards the sky and jutted his body outwards. His body could go nowhere, though, as his arms and legs were chained to an upright table at the wrists and ankles. As his body became used to the pain, it relaxed against the table. Sweat was still rolling down his body from the marathon and Kikyo knew this.

"Milluki," she said, "Turn it up to 500 volts."

"But, mother," Milluki protested, "That many volts this soon could-"

"Don't question your mother!" Kikyo snapped, "Just do it!"

"Y-yes, mother," Milluki said timidly.

Killua looked over at the machine and saw Milluki type in the number. As soon as the number was put in, Killua's body jutted forward even more than the last time. He thanked God that the chains were on him and that there was some slack in the back. The little boy tried to hold in the screams of agony as best he could. He let out another, even more strained, "Nnnnnngh" as his body took its time to get used to the enormous amount of pain.

"That's enough for today, Kikyo," another voice said.

The voice belonged to his grandfather, Zeno. He was an old man and he looked the part. Grey hair, wrinkles and he was always hunched over with his hands behind his back. He hadn't been in the room when the torture had started so he must have opened the door and walked in. Killua hadn't heard the door open, though, he figured it was because he couldn't hear anything due to the pain affecting his brain.

"But, Father-" Kikyo began, but was silenced by a stare from Zeno. She knew that she could not win an argument against him, so she said, "Okay. Milluki, shut it down!"

The boy at the controls turned the machine off promptly. Killua's body slumped back against the table. He was breathing heavily. Milluki took the nodes off of his brother's chest and placed them in their spots at the machine. He unchained his brother's arms and legs and Killua dropped to the floor. Nobody helped him up. It was part of the training; if he couldn't stand up on his own after having endured that, then he had no right to be a Zoldyck.

He stood up warily, regaining his balance. Being chained for so long had put his legs to sleep. That just added on to the pain he was feeling. Once he had regained his balance, he walked on his still-asleep legs, wincing at every step, to where his grandfather was waiting for him. The old man, who was probably the nicest person to Killua in the family, led him out of the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Kikyo and Milluki to clean up. Well, it was more like Milluki cleaning up Killua's sweat - and, on other occasions, his blood - and Kikyo supervising - that means shouting orders at Milluki and calling him names.

The young boy looked up at his grandfather and said, "Grandpa Zeno, why did you stop my session? It only just started."

The old man returned the boy's confused look with a smile and replied, "Why, indeed. Tell me, Kill," everybody called him that, "do you know what day it is?"

"Um…" The boy thought hard about the question, putting his hand to his chin, "Wednesday?"

Grandpa Zeno chuckled, "Yes, that is the day. But what I'm asking is 'do you know what _day_ it is on this Wednesday?' You should be able to find the answer somewhere."

The boy was utterly confused. He thought a Wednesday was a Wednesday, but he wondered if there could be a Thursday Wednesday or a Tuesday Wednesday. However, the boy was smart enough to know that it wasn't possible. He didn't like to give up when challenged, so he continued to think on what significance this day held. He knew that Grandpa Zeno only stopped his sessions early for special reasons, but this particular day escaped him for some reason.

The boy sighed reluctantly and said, "I give up, Grandpa Zeno."

"Now, Kill," Grandpa Zeno said, "how could you forget your own birthday?"

"My… Birthday?" Killua said, "But I thought that wasn't until next week!"

Grandpa Zeno laughed. Killua felt embarrassed. To forget his own birthday was not something he did often. He rather enjoyed looking forward to his birthdays. It was the one day where Grandpa Zeno took him outside of the mansion and get him anything he wanted. It was the one day of the year when Killua got to do what _he_ wanted and not what his family wanted.

==-==-==-==-x==-==-==-==-x==-==-==-==-==-x==-==-=-==-x==-==-==

The outside was just as beautiful as Killua remembered it being last year. The trees were growing leaves of a rich, luscious green and the grass was cut in various sizes. The sun, still high in the sky, was a bright glowing yellow orb of warmth. The kind of warmth Killua wished he had the chance to experience more often. However, he knew that the warmth he longed for could never be, as his place was inside the mansion. At least, that's what everybody told him.

Putting all thoughts aside, he took off his shoes and socks and ran barefoot through the grass, down the hill towards the town. The feeling of the grass under his feet was unlike any other. It was a pleasant feeling, unlike the pain he'd experienced just a few moments before. No, he had to stop thinking about suck things and just enjoy his day. He looked over to his left and noticed Grandpa Zeno running beside him with his socks and shoes. Grandpa Zeno looked at the child and Killua noticed a spark in his eyes.

A race. Grandpa Zeno knew Killua was very competitive when it came to running, so a good race every now and then cheered the boy right up and fuelled his spirit. Killua always lost when he raced Grandpa Zeno, but today was his birthday, there was no way he could lose! Killua rushed ahead as fast as he could, taking note of the warm gentle breeze that brushed against his face. He could see the bottom of the hill just ahead and Grandpa Zeno was nowhere in sight.

Yes! Killua was sure he could make it. He just had to! He was one step away from beating Grandpa Zeno, when all of a sudden, an image blurred right past him. The shock of seeing something move out of the corner of his eye made him slip on the grass. He fell onto his belly right in front of Grandpa Zeno, who helped him up.

"Aw, man!" Killua exclaimed as he got on his feet, "I almost had it, too!"

Grandpa Zeno chuckled, "I know you did, Kill. Maybe next time we race, you can beat me."

"I don't think I'll ever be able to beat you, Grandpa Zeno," Killua said saddened by his umpteenth loss, "You're just too fast for me."

"Well, that's true." Grandpa Zeno let out a hearty laugh.

Killua grabbed his footwear from Grandpa Zeno's hands and put them on. He knew that he had Grandpa Zeno right up until the end, but he couldn't figure out what had happened. Was it because he slipped that Grandpa Zeno had won? If that was the case, the maybe he should have kept his shoes on. When Grandpa Zeno had stopped laughing, the two walked into town together.

The town was just your average tourist attraction, with old buildings that looked like they had just been built and a lot of people dressed in weird clothes. Yes, Killua knew that the clothes were what Grandpa Zeno, and even Grandpa Maha, wore when they were younger, but they still looked really weird. The stores all sold various old antique stuff, but that didn't really interest Killua. No, what interested him was the shop that Grandpa Zeno took him every year. That shop sold candy and ice cream. All of which was made in an old fashioned way.

"Alright, Kill," Grandpa Zeno said before they went in, "You can have whatever you want, just don't buy out the whole store."

Killua nodded. He didn't really understand what it meant to 'buy out the whole store', but he didn't really care. They went inside the shop and Killua ordered an ice cream cone with one scoop of all 26 flavours and a little bit of candy on each scoop. Grandpa Zeno got the same thing as Killua, like he always did. They liked to make a game out of who could eat their ice cream the fastest without getting brain freeze. Killua always won that game because Grandpa Zeno could only eat 15 of the scoops before he got brain freeze; Killua ate them all.

It had been two years ago when Grandpa Zeno had first taken him out of the mansion. Killua had felt the sun for the first time and knew it was something he wanted to feel again. He was too scared to run down the hill at first, but when Grandpa Zeno had challenged him to a race, he couldn't have backed down. It was his first loss to Grandpa Zeno and his first loss in general. He'd always won races against the butlers and they always insisted that they had run their hardest.

After his first loss, Grandpa Zeno took him to the shop. He'd never tasted candy or ice cream before so the owner of the shop gave him a free sample. When Killua took his first bite of candy, sensations burst into his mouth. When he'd tasted the ice cream, it was like he'd just had the greatest thing in the entire world! Killua then proceeded to order his first ice cream cone, but there were only five flavours to choose from back then. Killua suggested the owner of the shop work on some more flavours. The owner laughed and said that he would think about it.

Now, two years later, Killua had a cone of 26 flavours of ice cream. And each flavour left a distinct taste in his mouth. Each flavour left a different sensation. It was almost heaven for the young lad. The candy sprinkled on the ice cream left its own unique feeling in Killua's mouth. The gummies left chewy goodness, the mints left freshness. Once Killua was done savouring each and every lick of ice cream, Grandpa Zeno excused himself and told Killua to look around the town.

Killua didn't think there was anything left to explore in this town. He had been basically everywhere on this main street and none of it excited him more than the candy shop. But, he wandered anyway, not really paying attention to where he was going. He saw a shadow and looked up. He didn't recognize this place. It was a building with a huge sign with no words. The only thing on the sign was the number 7 repeated twice more. Killua wondered what that meant. He was about to walk inside when he heard Grandpa Zeno's voice.

_That was fast_, Killua thought to himself.

It was true, it wasn't more than ten minutes since Grandpa Zeno had excused himself and left Killua on his own to wander. Still, the building with the odd sign was before him. He was sure grandpa Zeno wouldn't mind if he had a quick look inside to see what it was about. Grandpa Zeno was understanding like that. He took a step closer to the building and Grandpa Zeno called out his name again. Killua sighed in regret and ran back to where he heard his grandfather's voice.

"Ah, there you are, Kill," Grandpa Zeno said when Killua had appeared in front of him, "I have a birthday present for you."

A present? It was odd that Killua got a present on his birthday and when he did, it wasn't a very nice thing. Three years ago, he had gotten his first present: an electrified whip. No, the whip was for his use, it was to be used on him. Then the next year, he had gotten an owl whose only purpose in life seemed to scratch his arm constantly, because Killua was shielding his face. The following year, he didn't get any presents, so he was genuinely curious as to what he was getting for a present this year.

"Close your eyes and open your mouth." Grandpa Zeno said.

Killua was slightly confused by this, but he did so anyway. He heard some papers being rustled and he also heard a small _snap_ of something breaking. He knew that whatever it was, it was going into his mouth so it had to be something edible. It was probably poisoned as well, to build up his immunity towards it. He felt Grandpa Zeno place whatever it was on his tongue.

"Okay, Kill," he said, "You can close your mouth now, but don't chew."

Killua did as he was instructed. He felt the object inside of his mouth melt as his saliva wrapped around it. Soon, he was in complete heaven. Whatever this thing was, it was the most delectable thing in the world. It was even better than a 26-scoop ice cream cone with candy sprinkled on each scoop. He needed to know the name of this delicious sensation that dominated his mouth.

He opened his eyes and said with a mouthful, "What is this?"

Grandpa Zeno held up a gold-wrapped bar of brown squares, with one missing, and said, "This is called chocolate."

He then handed the bar over to Killua, who broke off another piece and shoved it in his mouth. He looked at Grandpa Zeno as if asking if it was okay to chew the chocolate. Grandpa Zeno nodded and Killua bit into the piece he had just put in his mouth. Again, the sensation was there, only this time it was stronger. It dominated his whole mouth and Killua just had to break off another piece.

Grandpa Zeno laughed as the boy devoured the entire bar in minutes. Killua asked if there was any more, to which Grandpa Zeno replied that there wasn't. Killua was naturally saddened at this fact, however his features brightened when Grandpa Zeno promised him more if he did well during his training. Killua agreed to do his best at the training.

The sun was just beginning to set and Killua decided to ask his grandfather about the strange building he saw. Grandpa Zeno told him that it was called a casino and that he shouldn't be going to any, because of his training. However, the casino had made him curious and he was known to act on his curiosity. Grandpa Zeno made him promise not to go into a casino because he was very busy with his training. He still promised, but it wouldn't stop him.

==-==-==-==x==-==-==-==-==-x==-==-==-==-==-x==-==-==-x==-==-==

It was really late by the time they had gotten back to the mansion, but that didn't stop Kikyo from putting Killua through another torture session. She had Milluki chain him up again to the upright table and splash him with water, as he was falling asleep. She then told Milluki to bring out Killua's first birthday present, the electric whip.

Milluki turned the electricity on right away, but Kikyo told him to give Killua a few strikes before going with the electricity. Milluki's whipping wasn't that great and Killua knew this. He could endure everything up until the electricity was turned on. When that happened, with every whip, Killua's body jutted forward. He only had a few seconds to relax before the next strike, when his body jutted forward again.

After ten strikes with the non-electrified whip and twenty strikes of the electrified whip, Killua's session was done and he was allowed to go to bed. In his bed, as he slept, he dreamed. It was the first time he'd dreamt about something that wasn't torture. He dreamed about chocolate.


	3. Life is Boring

==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==  
A/N: Hello, all. Sorry for the wait on the chapter. It's just that my other story, "The Fountain Redux", had sucked me into it and forced me to write about three or four chapters. Once I got free of that, another obstacle got in my way: writer's block. It always seems to find me no matter how hard I hide. *sigh* Oh well. The main point is that this chapter is done. I had originally wanted this to be a Christmas present to all of you, but because of the writer's block, I wasn't able to make it. So, I'll just wish everybody a belated Merry Christmas and a Happy Boxing Day (outside of the US).  
==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==

Chapter 2: Life is Boring

Throughout the year, Grandpa Zeno had given Killua various chocolates from around the world. Where ever he went on his missions, he found at least one chocolate shop where he would buy different kinds of chocolate to give to the young boy. Killua knew this meant that he was doing very well on his training. The day after his birthday, they had decided to increase the difficulty of his training, but Killua didn't notice it at first.

Killua was told to run a hundred laps on the track in the Zoldyck's indoor gym in under a minute. It was tough for the child, strenuous even, as the track was 800 meters. However, he managed a time of 59.99 seconds. He was complimented on the time by his mother, though he knew she didn't mean it. He knew he had to get a better time on the next run.

He was led to the room he had been in the previous day with a little help. His shirt was taken off and he was once again chained to the upright table. The small boy was exhausted after his run so he really did not want to have this done to him, but he could not say anything. The nodes were once again placed upon his chest and the 10 volts of electricity passed through his entire body. The sweat trailing down his body made it more intense as his body once again jutted forward and he held in a painful scream.

"Kill," his mother said, "are you ready?"

The volts stopped their course and Killua's body went limp. He thought on his mother's words. Was he ready? Was he ready for what? He thought back to the previous day when his mother had ordered Milluki to turn up the voltage. Surely, she couldn't be thinking of going that high already. Usually, it goes up gradually to let his body get used to the increase.

"Milluki," she said, "One Thousand volts."

Both Killua and Milluki looked at her in shock. A thousand volts of electricity? And so soon? Milluki started stammering, trying to find the words to protest. He was silenced by a stare from his mother. Killua looked from his mother to Milluki and back again several times, trying to get his tiny brain to comprehend the situation.

As he looked toward the woman he called 'Mother', he saw a smile across her face. The opposite could be said for Milluki. It was obvious to Killua that Milluki did not like the idea of putting his younger brother through that much so soon. However, Milluki replied like the obedient little puppy dog that he was. Killua couldn't help but snicker on the inside as he thought about what kind of obedient little puppy dog Milluki could be.

_Probably a Pug_, he thought, _He__'__s fat enough._

His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden burst of electricity that once again found its way into his body. The pain was almost unbearable, but he managed. His mother called for another thousand volts and Milluki responded. Killua felt his body leaving the table farther and farther behind with every word his mother spoke and every click of the keypad as the numbers were entered. Soon, Killua lost the use of his ears, as all he could hear was the sound of the electricity. However, as he looked over to his mother, he saw her lips moving.

"One hundred thousand" they said.

The electricity began to work its course with the higher setting. Killua did his best to hold it in. He could manage it, he told himself. It really wasn't that much. However, as another hundred thousand volts were added, he let out the loudest, girliest scream you ever heard from a boy. His limit was reached and exceeded. Tears rolled from his eyes as he began to beg for it to be stopped. He was defeated that day.

==-==-==-==-x==-==-==-x==-==-==-==-==-x==-==-==-==-x==-==-==-

The next day brought more of the same. However, it wasn't as intense as it had been the previous day. He had only been asked to do half the laps he had done yesterday and in double the time. The electricity torture didn't take place that day, either. Instead, it was replaced by poison training. However, he was not told it was poison training.

He was told that he was being rewarded for his progress. He was led to the dining area where he beheld a magnificent feast. Turkey and chicken and mashed potatoes and corn and all different kinds of other foods. He really wondered if he had made that much progress with his training, especially after the last day's events. However, something had caught his eye from the other end of the long table filled with food. A box with brown circle-shaped objects. He knew at once that it was chocolate.

Killua ran to the other side of the table, picked up one of the sweets and popped it in his mouth. However, as soon as he bit into it, he spit it out again and complained that it tasted funny. It was then that he was told the true purpose of the food on the table. He was to eat and detect which of the foods was poisoned. He was disappointed that he had been lied to.

==-==-==-==-==-x==-==-==-==-x==-==-==-==-x==-==-==-==-x==-==

In the days and months that followed, Killua had grown weary of the daily practices his family had put him through. Day in and day out, it was the same. The same walls, the same leg movements, the same tauntings. Everything was just the same.

Just once, Killua wished that something different would happen. He wanted a change in his everyday, boring life. However, he knew a change was never going to happen. It would be the same old boring life it had always been. He could never have a change.

It was three months after his birthday that his big brother, Illumi, had returned from his most recent mission. Killua had always admired his brother. He was kind to him and treated him like a real person, not just a tool to be used and abused several times a day. Though, he was also the person Killua was most afraid of. Illumi had eyes that could pierce your very soul and that was what scared young Killua.

The day Illumi had arrived, he told his mother the he would take charge of Killua's training. Kikyo protested this and even brought it up with Killua's father. Silva, a man built like an ox with the same silver hair as Killua's but a rough and rugged looking face, agreed in favour of the boy's mother. Illumi seemed indifferent to this. Than again, he always seemed indifferent to Killua. However, the boy knew it was because of the training Illumi had gone through. He was trained to be indifferent to everything.

Perhaps that is why he admired Illumi so much? His indifference to everything, his lifeless eyes that never changed, the neutral position his mouth always maintained? It certainly might have been the reason why he wanted to be trained under his older brother. Perhaps some of that indifference could be passed onto him so he could endure the torturous life he had.

"Um," he said meekly in the presence of everybody, "Could I please be trained by-"

He was silenced with a hand to his cheek. Shock was the first thing that had come to him. He had never been hit like that before. He held back tears as he saw the one that slapped him was his own mother. The woman who was supposed to raise him with loving kindness had just struck him with the utmost anger burning in her eyes.

"You will not speak unless you are spoken to," she said, "Killua." His name was pronounced with disgust.

"But I-" He flinched as he saw Kikyo's hand raise.

He braced for the eventual impact of his mother's open palm, but it never came. He opened his eyes to see Illumi holding her wrist. She struggled to get it loose. Her struggling was in vain, though, because Illumi's grip was like a viper's. Killua knew first hand what one of Illumi's grips was like, though he had later apologized and said it was unintentional.

"If you ever touch him like that again," Illumi's voice seemed indifferent, but Killua could tell there was malice in it and for a brief instant Killua saw anger in the cold, indifferent eyes of his older brother, "I will personally gut you like a fish."

He held up a claw to Kikyo's face. She didn't move. It wasn't because she was frozen in fear, like Killua was-though, he tried not to show it-it was because she was challenging him to try it. Silva stepped in to break the fight up.

"There is no need to fight amongst yourselves," he said, "I have decided that Killua will be trained by his mother. However, if there hasn't been enough progress made within three months, Illumi can take over with the training." He then knelt down and looked into Kilua's eyes. "Killua, you have to try and progress in your training during the three months. I don't want to see you not doing anything just because I made a decision you didn't like. Do you understand?" Killua nodded. "Good. Also, just because you may not like my decision, know that I made it for your benefit. Do you understand that?" Killua nodded. "Good. Now, go get ready for bed. Your training will continue as usual tomorrow."

==-==-==-==-x==-==-==-=-x==-==-==-==-x==-==-==-==-x==-==-==

As the month progressed, Killua's life had entered into a routine. He would get up every morning at 5, shower and get ready for the day of training that laid ahead for him. His training would start at breakfast, where he'd have to detect the poison and name it, too. He would then run a hundred to a thousand laps in one to ten minutes and then he would be chained to the upright table and electrocuted with however many volts Kikyo was feeling at the time until lunch.

At lunch, there would be new poisons to test. The Zoldycks had a group of scientists under their employment so that they could develop poisons and other things that would help their children's immune systems to develop. If Killua got sick from one of these new poisons, then they would continue to use the same poison every day for every meal until he no longer got sick. Of course, he would have to take time off if he had gotten sick, so he never did. He knew that the day after his return from being sick, training would increase immensely for that day.

After lunch, in the routine of Killua's Life, he would have an hour to himself. Sometimes, they let him have the whole afternoon to himself, but that was only when they couldn't get anything ready for him to test. During the time he had to himself, he often looked out to the beautiful scenery of the outside. He would sometimes imagine himself running through the tall grass and playing with kids his own age. Around the mansion, the only one remotely close to his own age that wasn't related to him was Canary. But, she was a Butler and wasn't allowed to talk to him.

Next up in the routine, Killua would have access to the gym. He would lift the weights that his mother had prepared-anywhere from a hundred to five hundred pounds-about a dozen or so times every five minutes. One day, he tried a new machine. It was still lifting weights, but there were straps around his ankles and he had to walk as far as he could. The first time, he didn't go very far, but he progressed each time he did it.

The routine then called for sparring. Killua would battle the toughest people, not necessarily Butlers, money could find. Sometimes, these people did a special trick to get the upper hand on Killua. Even though, he didn't know what they were doing, he always managed to come back and defeat-sometimes even kill-his opponent. Most of the time, he got injured but there were only a few times where his injuries were severe.

On one occasion, a man with a similar muscle build as his father, came in to challenge the young Zoldyck. Killua thought nothing of him as the previous opponents he had with huge muscles all turned out to be no challenge. However, as soon as the fight had started, Killua felt a tremendous power emanating from the man. He was paralyzed in the power. The man used this to his advantage and broke the young boy's left arm at the elbow. Killua backed away from his opponent but his face was suddenly cut. As his right cheek bled, Killua had noticed that the man didn't move from his position. He was getting more and more terrified as an unknown force was ripping his flesh to shreds little by little.

Finally, Killua had decided that he would charge at the man. He ran with his good hand now a claw and leaped up to stab the man. However, he was knocked away with a punch that would have been fatal to any other person. Being a Zoldyck, however, all it cause Killua was just some minor head trauma. He was still bleeding from his right temple, but he was still able to fight. He began to walk around the man. Soon, the man began to see multiple images of the child. Killua was told this was the Zoldyck's infamous Rhythm Echo technique.

Using this technique, Killua was able to get behind his opponent and rush him. However, the man noticed Killua and backhanded him. Soon, the invisible force that was tearing at him before, started again. Killua used Rhythm Echo again, despite being cut into pieces by this man's invisible technique, and managed to trick the man. He came up from behind, to which the man noticed again, and used a faster Rhythm Echo to dodge the man's arm and get his hands around the man's neck. The man struggled to get free, but Killua's grip wouldn't loosen. In one swift movement of Killua's arms, the man fell with his head facing the ceiling.

After he had defeated his opponent, Killua was allowed to have dinner. Every night was a feast fit for a king. It should have made Killua feel like he actually was royalty, but instead, it just made his stomach turn. Like at breakfast and lunch, there were different food items poisoned. However, Killua wasn't meant to detect the poison in the food this time. He was supposed to enjoy the meal he was given and not get sick or drop dead.

Once dinner was over, he lifted weights again. He ran on the track again. He was electrocuted again. He showered again. And finally, he went to bed.

==-==-==-==-x==-==-==-==-x==-==-==-==-x==-==-==-==-x==-==-==

Day in and day out, it was the same. For three months, Killua was trained in what his mother had wanted him trained in. He had progressed in the three months, though. He was about ready to have his first mission. He was excited about that because it was Illumi who was taking him on the mission.

Killua knew nothing of the target before the mission, but he didn't care. He and Illumi had never had any time to share together. Killua was always too busy with his training that he couldn't have the time to just be with his brother and do things brothers are supposed to do. He thought this mission would change all that. This mission was a chance to bond with his brother.

==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==  
A/N: I should mention that there will be a delay on the next chapters of both this story and The Redux. The reason, this time, is not because of writer's block. I KNOW, IT'S A MIRACLE! SOMETHING OTHER THAN WRITER'S BLOCK! Imagine that! Anyway, the reason is because my brother is getting married on Friday so I won't be able to work on the stories for a few days. As much as I'd want to, family is just more important.  
==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==-==


End file.
